We have been preparing for NanoWriMo this week in our homeschool. The official launch date of the program is November 1. Today we discussed the importance of characters and how to get to know them better.
When you are writing a novel, you need to know your characters better than anyone else. You need to get into their heads and learn things about them that may never actually be put into your novel. You have to understand their motivations. This can be done in many different ways. But for our purposes, we decided to follow the suggestion of the program lessons and make up character sheets for each of our characters.
The character sheet contains many different questions about your characters to help you get to know them. Each character should have their own sheet. You will need to have one for your protagonist, supporting characters and then your antagonist. I have included a sample of a character sheet at the bottom of this post that you are free to download and use in your own homeschools.
My son had a really good time writing the information about his characters down on his sheet. We used a different sheet for each character. He learned a lot about each of them and is eager to begin his story. But we are not ready yet. Tomorrow we will discuss plot. These lessons are teaching him how to write his story. He is excited to realize that this is something that he can do and that he will be able to apply the things that he has learned. He is already talking about doing it again and we haven’t even begun the writing. For someone who was becoming a reluctant writer, I am thrilled that his creativity is being rekindled.
character-sheet
Now that you know I am working in conjuction with TOS Magazine and reviewing products in their focus group, I thought I would share with you the latest offer. It is a great offer with an e-book, Homespun Holidays, that you will want in your collection for sure!
Did you ever dream of getting a horse for Christmas? You can get a sneak peek of our Fall issue and see Nancy Carter’s first horse! Oh, and she’s not the only one sharing her childhood pictures. You’ll see photos from the 50’s through the 80’s.
But, you’ll need the Fall issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine to go on this walk down memory lane.
Plus, do you like to create holiday memories? The brand new TOS holiday E-Book can be yours, too. It’s all about the fall and winter holidays – mainly Thanksgiving and Christmas. But it’s not even for sale yet. This is your chance to get it first – for FREE ($12.45 value)!
Normally when a person subscribes, their subscription starts with the upcoming issue which can take a while. But, TOS thought about that when they planned their Fall Special.
If you subscribe now with their Fall Special, you’ll get
Almost 50% off the cover price for 2 years The current Fall issue as soon as it is ready
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I have debated for awhile whether or not to share with you that I have been selected to participate in a focus group with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I finally decided that it really wouldn’t hurt and that you might like to know that I will be reviewing several homeschool products for them in the next nine months. The name of the focus group is the TOS Homeschool Crew.
So what does my good fortune in being chosen for a focus group have to do with you? Well, for starters, I will be reviewing several great products and sharing my thoughts about them with you. You can use this information to make decisions about the products that you want to spend money on in your own homeschools. And to make it even better, I will give you access to the opinions of 99 other members of this group.
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I will be receiving up to 50 items from different homeschool vendors for use in my home. I will be actually using these items in my own homeschool with my son and then telling you what I think and how I feel about each item. These reviews will be honest and thorough. I want you to have the best information that I can possibly give to you to aid you in your own decisions on these products for use in your own homeschools.
I will mark each review with one of the logos that I have received as a member of the Crew. This will help you to know that this is a product review for the TOS Homeschool Crew. I have already started receiving some of the various curriculum items. I don’t know that I will be chosen to review all 50 items, but I will link you to the blogs of the reviewers who were chosen. That way you will have the information on all 50 of the items. I will start sharing my thoughts on some of the items I am reviewing soon.
The first round of product reviews will include the following:
Help Me to Teach
Homeschooling ABCs by Knowledge Quest
One 2 Believe
All About Spelling
Spears Art Studio
Kinderbach
Peterson Directed Handwriting
Keep you eyes open for my reviews! It will promise to be an amazing experience for all!
